Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

Science teacher Greg Craven presents info about climate change

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Greg Craven

Science teacher Greg Craven discusses the topic of climate change with his high school students.

There are many examples of classroom teachers who have made a significant impact on American culture. Science teacher Greg Craven of Oregon is an excellent example of this.

Greg was raised in Silverton, Oregon. After his high school graduation, he attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, where he majored in computer science and Asian studies. Once he earned his degree, he accepted a position as a science teacher at Central High School in Independence, Polk County, Oregon, where he teaches physics and chemistry. This talented educator involves his students in using critical thinking skills to tackle questions about science.

In 2007, Greg created an instructional YouTube video that featured the subject of climate change. The ten-minute video, entitled The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See, instantly went viral. To follow up, this chalkboard champion created 44 additional videos which further explored the topic. “My mission in this is to change the culture,” explained Greg, “so that a policymaker can’t turn around without somebody saying ‘Hey! What are you doing about climate change?’ We need significant changes in the basis of our modern society, which is cheap, easily accessible fossil fuels.” As a follow up to his videos, Greg published a book entitled What’s the Worst that Could Happen? A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate in 2009.

For this work, Greg was named Featured Teacher by WIRED Science in 2007. In 2010, he was invited to address the American Geophysical Union, where he also served as a member of a panel discussion group that addressed the topic of climate change. He has also been named Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Oregon Science Teach­­ers Association.

To learn more about Greg’s book, see What’s the Worst that Could Happen? on amazon. com. To view Greg’s 2007 YouTube video, see below:

English teacher W. E. Blackhurst records West Virginia’s old-time timber industry

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Throughout American history, there are times when a talented educator will earn acclaim as an author and social commentator. Warren Elmer Blackhurst of West Virginia is just such an educator. His novels and nonfiction pieces record the old-time timber industry that flourished in West Virginia at the turn of the 20th century. In his day, he was also known as a conservationist and expert on local wildlife.

W. E. Blackhurst

W. E. Blackhurst, West Virginia educator and author

W. E. Blackhurst was born in Arbovale, Pocahontas County, West Virginia, on October 10, 1904. He was the seventh of eleven children born to Reverend Harry and Lula (Burner) Blackhurst. As a young boy, Warren attended Green Bank High School. Following his high school graduation, he earned his bachelor’s degree at Glenville State Teachers College.

Once he earned his degree, Warren returned to Green Bank High School, where he taught English and Latin from 1932 to 1964. His career as an educator spanned a total of 32 years. In addition, Warren developed and taught the state’s first class in environmental conservation. Every year, as part of the course, he supervised his seniors in planting five acres of seedlings in the Monongahela National Forest.

All his life, Warren collected and wrote stories West Virginia’s early days in the logging industry, conservation, and local wildlife. His work was published in many magazines and newspapers. He also published several novels retold stories of his home town of Cass and the history of the timber boom years in the Greenbrier Valley. The most acclaimed of his novels is Riders of the Flood (1954), which has been reworked into an outdoor play and is performed annually. Warren also wrote Sawdust In Your Eyes (1963), Of Men and A Mighty Mountain (1965), and Mixed Harvest (1970). A collection of poetry and prose entitled Afterglow was published posthumously in 1972. 

Warren passed away on October 5, 1970, in Cass, West Virginia. To learn more about this chalkboard champion, consult West Virginia Encyclopedia.

Acclaimed author Pat Conroy most relished his role as teacher

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Pat Conroy

Educator and author Pat Conroy

Sometimes in history a talented educator earns fame, fortune, and acclaim in the literary world. One teacher like this is Pat Conroy, considered by many the leading figure of Southern literature of the late 20th century. Pat Conroy is the author of two acclaimed novels: The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini. Both these novels have garnered Academy Awards as films. He also penned the successful novel The Lords of Discipline.

Donald Patrick Conroy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 26, 1945. His father was a Marine Corps fighter pilot, and for this reason his family moved frequently. Pat once said he attended eleven different schools before his sophomore year. Also, he has often described his father as abusive and his childhood as traumatic.

As a college student, Pat attended The Citadel, an all-male military college in South Carolina. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1967. After earning his degree, Pat accepted a position as an English teacher at Beaufort High School in Beaufort, South Carolina. While there, he wrote his first novel, The Boo, which he self-published using money he borrowed from the bank.

After two years, Pat spent a year teaching at a two-room school on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. There he worked to expand the horizons of his African American students, poorly-educated kids who spoke the Gullah dialect and had very little knowledge of the world beyond their island. Pat’s unorthodox instructional methods caused the superintendent of schools to fire him after just one year. Nevertheless, Pat relished his job as an educator. “There’s no word in the language I revere more than ‘teacher,'” Pat said in 1986. “My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher, and it always has. I’ve honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming a teacher.”

This dedicated educator and outstanding author passed away from pancreatic cancer on March 4, 2016. He was 70 years old. He is interred at St. Helena Memorial Garden on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. To read the 2009 interview with Pat Conroy published by Low Country Weekly, click on The Power of Circles.

 

Alan Lawrence Sitomer: Nationally recognized educator, public speaker, and novelist

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Alan Lawrence Sitomer

Alan Lawrence Sitomer

You know, sometimes teachers make the best authors. One educator who proves this is true is high school English teacher Alan Lawrence Sitomer. Alan has earned a reputation nationally for his success in engaging reluctant readers and his aptitude as an engaging motivational speaker. He is also the celebrated author of children’s books, young adult fiction, and books about teaching pedagogy.

Born in 1967, Alan earned his Bachelor’s degree from University of Southern California, his teaching certificate through San Diego State University, and his Master’s degree from National University. He has taught English, creative writing, speech, debate, and AVID at Lynwood High School, an inner city school located in Lynwood, Los Angeles County, California. He has also worked as a professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Alan’s published novels for kids include The Hoopster, Hip Hop High School, and Homeboyz. He has also authored Hip-Hop Poetry & the Classics, a text that is currently being used in classrooms throughout the United States to teach classic poetry through hip-hop. The approach is intended to engaged reluctant students in both poetry and academics. Other titles published by Alan are a teacher’s methodology book entitled Teaching Teens & Reaping Results: In a Wi-Fi, Hip-Hop, Where-Has-All-The-Sanityh-Gone World and The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

Recently, Alan has been working on a series of “BookJams.” These projects are designed to raise test scores by promoting his standards-based activities and lesson plans, hands-on learning projects, useful grading rubrics, differentiated assessments, and award-winning literature. See more about this at The Alan Sitomer BookJam.

This amazing teacher was named California Teacher of the Year by the California Board of Education in 2007. You can find his books on amazon.com and his website at www.alanlawrencesitomer.com.

Elementary teacher and acclaimed author John Bibee

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John Bibee

Teacher and children’s author John Bibee.

Many excellent classroom teachers are also gifted authors. One example of this is elementary teacher John Bibee, who also happens to be a celebrated children’s book author.

John was born on January 2, 1954, in Delaware. His father was a horticulturist and his mother was an elementary school teacher and reading specialist. When he was a young boy, his family moved frequently, living for periods of time in Florida, Missouri, and Colorado. When he was in the eighth grade, John’s family returned to Delaware.

During his childhood, John’s parents nurtured his deep love for reading. His passion for writing was inspired by his eighth grade English teacher, Norman Reynolds. Early in life John determined to write inspirational stories for kids. In fact, many of his books have been read aloud on radio during children’s story hours.

John has authored many books for young people. He has published eight books in the Spirit Flyer Series, and eight mysteries in the Home School Detectives series. John’s stories, many of which are allegorical in nature, stimulate the imaginations of his readers through adventure tales and fantasy stories that lead the characters into the Deeper World, a place where children play an important role in the struggle between good and evil.

John’s work has won widespread acclaim. Several of his books have won awards from Christian Home & School Magazine. To check out his books on InterVarsity Press website, click on John Bibee.